


Puppet

by skjinxin (timaeustestifiedsilence)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Astronomy, M/M, NCT 2018, Work In Progress, nct as planets, this isn't a crack fic i put real work into this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-11-20 20:56:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18132050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timaeustestifiedsilence/pseuds/skjinxin
Summary: Sun, moon, earth. Long dead stars filling empty space with their light and sharing what once was. A solar system hangs in the balance at the mercy of the universe’s patience, wondering if they’ll be sucked into a black hole now, or in an eon. However, those planets, those moons - they aren’t just mounds of ice, rock, metals, clouds of gases. Their cores hold a sort of being. Human? If they want to be. An unimaginable alien? If they feel like it. They existed long before intelligent life.With nothing better to do, they’re as suspended in time as they can be without being completely oblivious. A fly suspended in amber. They’re open to each other’s thoughts, and when Earth’s distress becomes prominent, a few decide to break free and pay a visit./Tags will be updated as the fic goes on/





	1. An Appearance

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first multi-chapter fic in a really long time, so please bear with me :) I really hope to finish this one.

In the still of night, splayed amongst the powdery snow, lies a body. Not dead, yet not fully alive - a lukewarm husk home to nothing but a mess of emotions. 

Soon, another body enters the fray. This person is running, running towards the man laying in the middle of the road, praying that he’s not hurt, begging for this man’s life. And there are witnesses. 

It’s the night of a full moon. It’s the night he has somehow broken free of a seemingly endless cycle. And yet, now, rather than being free to roam space, he is trapped on the very planet he orbited, with nowhere else to turn to.

He wonders if it’s some sort of trick - one moment he’s minding his own business, and the next, he wakes up in someone else’s bed. Or, perhaps, this is the chance he’s been waiting for.

* * *

 

 

In a perfect world, people are fully aware of their bodies and their surroundings. Regardless of whether or not someone had perfect sight or hearing, they would surely notice a bright streak of fire that lit up the night sky as they walked. Surely they would notice the loud ‘ _ flump _ ’ of something large hitting the ground, or even the flurries of snow kicked up from the impact.  _ Surely _ they would notice something as unordinary as that...but alas, this was not a perfect world - Jeno, the only other being around at the time, didn’t see  _ any _ of that. He was so dense that all of that went over his head (both figuratively and literally). 

With another flash, another unidentified object went speeding past Jeno. He figured that it was just Jaemin being hyperactive, even at this ungodly hour. “Jeno!” he yelled, “What are you doing?! Hurry up and get over here!”

“It’s two in the morning, Jaeminnnn,” whined the dense boy, who still hadn’t looked up to see what Jaemin was seeing, “I’m walking slowly like the sleep deprived being I am.” And that he did. He shuffled through the snow towards Jaemin’s increasingly louder calls, not even bothering to pick up his feet. By the time he made it over, he wished he’d moved a lot faster.

“How did you not see him... _ laying _ here like this?” Jaemin sighed, breath curling around the face of the man laying in the snow as he knelt beside him. “Don’t you know who this is?” 

“I...” Of course he knew who it was. Of  _ course  _ he knew that this was all wrong. Of course he knew that if this wasn’t some joke. “Yeah. I...I’m sorry, Jaemin.”

Another heavy sigh. “We should get him to Yuta. He’ll probably be pissed to see him but I honestly don’t know what else to do...”

What  _ do _ you do when someone falls from the sky, and not as an ethereal angel? When they’re still smoking from plummeting through the atmosphere? When they’ve made a crater in the ground of the planet whose owner probably hates them? Stand and stare, probably. Pinch yourself for a reality check. Proclaim that the end is nigh. Or, you know, sling them over your shoulder and book it to the man in charge.

They were all very fortunate that no one else was around. If it weren’t for Jeno and Jaemin, who knows how long that man would’ve lain there? He probably would’ve been taken for a homeless person and left to the elements, and that would be if he was  _ lucky _ . Any other person would have called the police, and he would be taken into custody as some sort of alien. For him to land where he did, though...it was no coincidence. It couldn’t be. 

“Call... _ huff _ ...Yuta and... _ huff _ ...tell him we’re coming…” Jaemin panted, struggling with the dead weight across his back. He was starting to regret not making Jeno do the carrying, stumbling once, twice, but still running on. This whole situation was so strange that Jaemin feared that if he even so much as blinked, he would be too late - but for what, he didn’t know.

Soon, Jaemin’s pace started to slow. His head was down, his teeth were clenched. All he had to do was get to Yuta. Yuta would take care of everything else. Right? Wasn’t it his duty towards those on his planet? Earth wasn’t even Jaemin’s  _ home _ . He belonged on Jupiter, his real home. His second ‘body’.

Jaemin was so deep into his thoughts that he hardly registered Jeno’s hand on the small of his back, guiding him towards the front gate of Yuta’s home. The wrought iron gate swung open without a sound as if it itself had expected them. Jeno opened the trustingly unlocked door and nudged Jaemin forward, who only had half a mind to shrug his boots off before stumbling towards the carpeted staircase to Yuta’s room. 

By the time the two (and unconscious third) arrived at the landing, Yuta was standing in the doorway of his guest room with an unreadable expression on his face. Was it confusion? Was it concern? Was it anger (read: Sicheng and the Tale of His Warring Suitors)? 

“Set him on the bed. Bring his shoes downstairs and then come to the kitchen.” The curt commands were barely audible. How could there be no trace of emotion in his voice? Jaemin nodded dumbly and all but dumped the man onto the bed, covers already pulled back. Thankfully, Jeno took care of the dripping boots, so Jaemin was free to shuffle after Yuta into the kitchen. 

No sooner had Jaemin collapsed into a chair than three steaming mugs clinked onto the dining table. Silence hung thickly in the air until Jeno came back and slid into the seat next to his exhausted friend. He gently grabbed Jaemin’s hand and wrapped it around the mug before him, bringing him back to his worn senses. 

After a few hesitant sips, an almost haughty sniff brought attention to the situation at hand. “So. When? How? Where? Taeil doesn’t visit often. Everyone knows that. If he were human, he really would be dead by now, but  _ fortunately _ , one of you is more observant than the other.” A glance towards Jeno would reveal him to be sheepishly staring into his mug. 

“Cut him some slack, Yuta. He wasn’t the one who’d just had his fifth cup of burnt rubber coffee,” Jaemin grumbled. “And we don’t know how it happened. One moment I was basking in the night glow and the next, snow was flying. All I saw was a flash out of the corner of my eye and then he was there...face down in the snow and freshly steaming. I’d say your atmosphere really did a number on him.” At that, Yuta couldn’t help but snort. 

“He’s not some meteorite. Taeil’s a moon - he even made that  _ part of his human name _ \- right now he’s out cold in the bed I have reserved for a certain  _ someone _ , and he-” Yuta’s retort was abruptly cut off as his eyes drifted towards the window behind Jeno and Jaemin, which showed a marvelous view of the backyard of his estate. “Where is his moon...? Where is...the...he...I-”

At that moment, Jaemin felt his heart plunge. Two heads slowly turned in sync, following Yuta’s gaze. There, in the night sky, nestled amongst the countless twinkling stars was...nothing. At all. There was nothing when there was supposed to be something - a beaming full moon that was  _ supposed  _ to be shining through that kitchen window and illuminating the room. And with that realization, three uneasy pairs of eyes met before drifting up, up, up towards the ceiling to where that very moon was laying. 

“That’s Taeil. His moon. It’s not in the sky, but he’s here,” Jeno stated simply, dumbfounded.

“Oh, heavens,” Yuta cried, all but crumbling into a heap on the floor. He had his head in his hands, displaying the first raw emotions of surely many to come. “Oh...I...”

“Yeah.” Jaemin’s voice was dry. He reluctantly left the warmth of his mug to take Jeno’s hand, and now he was the one leading a limp, shuffling body away from the scene of a crime. “Leave him be before things get worse. You’ve seen what happens when he gets too upset.” Yeah. How else would natural disasters occur?

So now Jaemin and Jeno found themselves on the small couch opposite of the bed where Taeil lay, leaning into each other out of exhaustion. They watched Taeil as his chest rose and fell, simulating human life and serving as the only proof that he hadn’t faded out of existence. His cheeks were no longer deathly pale, the snow melted from his clothes and hair. If you looked closely you could see the way his brows furrowed in concern, even in his ‘slumber’. 

“What do you think happened?” Jeno mumbled, question muffled from his face being buried in Jaemin’s arm. 

A tired bark of laughter. “Who knows. Maybe this is all some sort of stunt. Maybe in the morning everything will go back to normal.”

“Maybe Taeil got over Sicheng and he fell for Yuta instead.” That earned Jeno a sharp jab in the side. “I know, I know. It’d never happen.”

“No, you idiot. That was for the bad timing.”

“Oh, so you’re saying it  _ could _ happen?”

It was silent after that. They were too tired to talk, too confused to think properly. Taeil wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. That left Yuta, who was still on the floor of the kitchen and had probably made himself faint from overthinking. In the living room, the grandfather clock chimed for four a.m. 

One. A sudden appearance.

Two. Witnesses to the beginning of the end.

Three. The source of it all, third from the sun. 

Four.

* * *

 

 

Considering the circumstances, the four men slept soundly. Even as the sun rose and slatted through the blinds, they did not stir. Even as every TV in the world was tuned into the news of the missing moon, they cared not. Even as  _ the sun himself _ realized that Earth’s moon was, in fact, no longer reflecting his glorious light, they didn’t wake up.

Donghyuck, despite the prickly personality he showcased as a human, was very caring. He saw all, knew all. The rays of his light found their way into even the furthest corners of space, tickling even Pluto. Nothing could be hidden from him. But, that was pretty much the case for all of the other planets and moons. That’s why Donghyuck decided to leave Yuta be. Besides, he was probably taking part in the ‘sleeping’ thing he enjoyed so much; when Donghyuck asked Yuta about it once, he simply said that it made him feel more connected with the inhabitants of his planet.  _ “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” _ he had said. 

So for now, Donghyuck chose to remain as the sun, his carefully crafted human form curled up and resting at his core. He had a feeling that his sudden appearance would cause a storm.

As if that would be the first.

 

_ ‘Taeil-ah, wherever you are...I really hope you’re not alone.’ _


	2. Damage Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Yuta! I’m on my way! Get out of bed or else…’ Haechan had to chuckle to himself. They sent mental messages to each other all the time - it was how they talked without, you know, actually talking. That way, he could keep in contact with even Doyoung, who, as Pluto, was the furthest away from him.
> 
> Now, whenever Haechan sent a message (demand) to Yuta, he would always get a response within a few moments, ranging from “no” to “make me” to the occasional “it’s 2 in the morning, please get a clock”. It was great. Instead, all Haechan got back was one word: ‘Hurry’.

Haechan could only sit idle for so long before hurrying to Earth to talk to Yuta. It made his skin  _ crawl  _ to think about staying in the comfort of his sun when he knew something could be terribly wrong. Yuta was his favorite, after all, with Taeil at a close second. He loved the fascination that spewed from Yuta’s people, loved watching their little satellites putter around in the vast darkness of space, loved them taking photos of his good side (which was every side, of course). 

_ ‘Yuta! I’m on my way! Get out of bed or else…’ _ Haechan had to chuckle to himself. They sent mental messages to each other all the time - it was how they talked without, you know, actually talking. That way, he could keep in contact with even Doyoung, who, as Pluto, was the furthest away from him. 

Now, whenever Haechan sent a message (demand) to Yuta, he would always get a response within a few moments, ranging from “no” to “make me” to the occasional “it’s 2 in the morning, please get a clock”. It was great. Instead, all Haechan got back was one word: ‘ _ Hurry’ _ .  

Only a few more moments passed before Haechan arrived on Earth, plum in the middle of the woods behind Yuta’s house. His mode of transportation was unique to him - via the rays of light from his sun. Don’t ask him how it worked, because he couldn’t be bothered to care; he just found it entertaining to be able to pop up anywhere his light shined. 

Like always, there was no need to knock. The door from the backyard to the main level patio was unlocked and cracked ever so slightly, trustingly inviting him in. Haechan half expected Yuta to be sitting at the dining table, giving him an annoyed glare or a toothy healing grin. Instead, he was met with an empty kitchen with three half-filled,  _ mismatched _ mugs of what looked to be tea. That was the first indication something wasn’t right. Yuta was an organized person, so leaving things out on the table that weren’t even matching was a bit off putting. The second indication was two unfamiliar hushed voices floating down the stairs from Yuta’s guest room, which was, in fact, reserved for Sicheng and Sicheng only. 

“I’m here!” Haechan called out, tentatively. The two voices he heard immediately quieted. Again, Haechan spoke. “Yuta? Are you home?” Now there was nothing. He took it as a sign that Yuta wasn’t, in fact, home, and that perhaps those voices were here in his stead. Why, though, he had no clue, considering the fact that Yuta hated having guests over when he wasn’t home himself. 

Rather than leaving or sending another message to the absent owner, Haechan steeled himself and ventured upwards. The stairs were silent, not giving away his actions as he crept closer and closer to the guest bedroom. He released the breath he hadn’t even realised he was holding when he came face to face with the guest room’s inhabitants that were, in fact, not strangers at all - they were two of his dearest friends that he hadn’t seen in far too long.

“Jeno! Jaemin! What are you guys doing here?” Haechan half-yelled, pulling both of the boys into a tight hug. “Are you house sitting for Yuta? Where’d he go, anyway? I told him I was coming over and he just said to hurry. Dunno what for, though. It’s Sunday…”

Jeno let out a weak chuckle before wriggling out of the hug. “It’s not the house we’re watching, Haechan.” The latter groaned loudly.

“Of course it isn’t, you idiot. Houses aren’t alive! You guys are actually just freeloading,  _ aren’t  _ you.” Like always, Haechan was fully absorbed in his wit, much too busy with chattering to do anything else. Too busy to notice that the mood of the room wasn’t as light as the one he put off, to notice the fatigue and stress lining the faces of his friends.

Jaemin took the pause in his talkative friend’s speech as his chance to explain the situation, but he was cut off.  “Haechan, we -”

Haechan held his hands up to silence him. “You what? You’re actually here to prank me or something? Whatever, Jeno’s pranks suck anyway. Listen, have you guys seen Taeil? I was going to tell Yuta when I got here, but I guess I’ll just have to tell you. His moon went missing last night! Everything was fine, but then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t see him reflecting my light anymore!” He seemed genuinely stressed out, his joking demeanor now buried.

“He’s… right here.” Jeno and Jaemin parted from each other to reveal the cause of everyone’s worry, who was laying sound asleep in bed. Taeil’s hands were folded neatly across his chest, fingers cutely wrapped around the edge of the blanket. He looked comfortable. At home.

It was like all of the unnecessary air was sucked from Haechan’s lungs. He felt his jaw drop, his gesturing hands fall still at his sides. Taeil was… here? He was ok? If he was here, then where was his moon? “Taeil, you…” He had to move closer, he had to see if this was really  _ real _ . One step, two steps, a bounding leap to be at Taeil’s side. “Wake… wake up! Taeil,  _ wake up _ !” Haechan began urgently shaking the man by the shoulders, shaking almost his entire body with the force. The other two boys both started forward in surprise; that was obviously the last thing they had expected Haechan to do.  

“Maybe you shouldn’t - ”

“What? Maybe I shouldn’t  _ what _ ?” Haechan snapped, suddenly whipping around to face the two. His eyes were blurry with tears. “Maybe I shouldn’t try to wake him up? To find out why a being that doesn’t even need to breathe, let alone sleep, is unconscious in bed? To find out what the  _ hell  _ is going on?” 

His outburst caused the others to fall silent. After a few moments, Haechan straightened, roughly carding his hands through his hair. “I didn’t mean to yell.” He muttered, not meeting their eyes. “I’m just really… scared. This isn’t right.”

“It’s ok,” Jaemin whispered, “I reacted the same way. We should go downstairs to talk.”

 

* * *

 

So there they were again, at the dining table. The empty mugs had been moved to the counter, leaving the table free for Haechan to lay his head and arms on. The atmosphere was different from the previous night - less tense, less agitated - now, the air was dull. 

“What happened last night?” Haechan asked quietly. He couldn’t wrap his head around the situation, around how any of this was possible.

Jeno and Jaemin looked at each other for a long moment before Jeno decided to speak. Jaemin had done enough. “Jaemin and I were just walking around and enjoying the weather when something came flying through the air and crashed into the snow. I didn’t really pay attention, but Jaemin ran over right away and saw that it was Taeil. He was just laying there, arms and legs all over the place. Honestly, I thought that he was for sure dead. He didn’t look… he didn’t look like he had come here of his own free will, if you know what I mean.”

At that, Haechan raised his head. “ _ What _ ?”

“I-I don’t know, he just didn’t… if he wanted to be here, he would’ve appeared, not crash landed. Even though he was unconscious, he just had this look on his face…”

“He looked upset.” Jaemin jumped in. He’d seen Taeil first. “He looked like he’d heard something he didn’t like, like he’d gotten into an argument. He was frowning, his jaw was clenched so hard that his whole face was tense. I’ve never seen his face so distorted with anger.” It was a description that was almost gruesome, unbecoming of everything that Taeil was, but it was true. 

Jeno took over again. “After that, Jaemin picked him up and we came straight to Yuta’s house. We were so lucky that we were nearby, otherwise, I don’t know where we would’ve gone. We just put him in bed and told Yuta what happened. That was when we realised that his moon wasn’t in the sky. Yuta looked like he was going to have a breakdown at that point, so we just went upstairs to keep an eye on Taeil.”

It took a while for Haechan to really absorb everything. “I noticed that his moon was missing right away, but I figured that Yuta had too… that’s why I didn’t say anything to him. I didn’t want to wake him up,” Haechan said sheepishly. Now, it sounded a bit stupid. He should’ve said something right away, so that Yuta could’ve been more prepared. Right, Yuta… “Where’s Yuta? Shouldn’t he be here?”

Jaemin shook his head. “He’s out doing damage control. Literally everyone is freaking out. Everyone here noticed first, and it spread online to the rest of the world right away. Yuta told us about an hour ago before he left that it only took about two hours for it to be on the news, even in America.” 

“What are they saying about it?”

“They’re saying that the world is ending. That they’re all going to die. The scientists are going absolutely nuts.”

“ _ Ending _ ?” Haechan choked. “Isn’t that a bit much?”

“Not really,” Jaemin said, shaking his head. “Yuta told us before he left that if Taeil’s moon is truly physically gone, the tides would stop, days would be shorter, the climate would go nuts...:”

“Basically,” Jeno continued, “A lot of things would die, and Yuta would get… ‘sick’, I guess. He wouldn’t be doing too good.”

It was… a lot of information to take in. Haechan knew that each of their planets and moons played important roles, and that the disappearance or destruction of only one of them could potentially offset the rest of their solar system. He just never wanted to think about it. “What kind of ‘damage control’ is he doing?”

“Probably working his mind magic to calm people down before they riot,” scoffed Jaemin. “You know how people are, with their nuclear bunkers and their rations. If everyone really starts believing the world is gonna end, they’ll start looting, start fights, blah blah blah…”

Of course they would. Yuta’s people are… vicious. They constantly hurt him, refusing to change their ways in order to not destroy the one place they can live. But still, he cares so deeply for them that it frustrates Haechan, frustrates  _ all _ of them.  

Yuta chose that quiet moment to burst into the house, door slamming behind him. To say he looked terrible was an understatement - his usually tidy hair was now disheveled, and his pallor was prominent on his face, red rimmed eyes vividly contrasting. He’d been crying. 

Instead of shying away from them to hide away, Yuta made a beeline towards the kitchen and into Haechan’s arms. 

“What if I can’t find his moon? What if it really is gone, and he’s stuck here? Stuck unconscious for the rest of his existence?” Yuta whispered, voice hoarse. 

Haechan rubbed Yuta’s back as sympathetically as he could from his sitting position. “I wouldn’t worry about that just yet, Yuta. I have a feeling he’ll be awake soon. Very soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave feedback! I love reading comments.


End file.
